A Quick and Dirty Look at Slot Car Controllers

 So you have a slot car set, and you've had time to get some new cars and some more track to make it longer. You've gotten better cars than the ones you originally had, but they're so hard to control that it's almost not fun anymore.

The controller should definitely be a consideration. It's the interface between you and the car, and the better it is, the better your racing will be. It really does make that much of a difference.

There isn't a slot car manufacturer alive that's making a worthwhile controller for slot car racing. Most are subpar and frustrating at best, uncontrollable at worst. Thankfully, there are quite a few companies out there that continue to make great controllers.

On the left is the standard Carrera Evolution thumb controller. One grabs hold and pushes the red plunger down with their thumb. On the right is the Slot.it SCP-1 controller. It uses a finger trigger as is much more ergonomically comfortable.

When you buy a Carrera Evolution racing kit, you get two of the thumb controllers with it. I don't like these. Never have. When I was a kid, I had an AFX set that had finger-trigger controllers, and it was excellent. But trying to drive with your thumb just wasn't instinctive for me. I don't have the sensitivity in my thumb to get really touchy with the plunger. 

The controllers themselves are clumsy for driving. You have such a limited range, slow, slow medium, then BANG! Whipped into a wall. There is no middle ground. The one good thing about them: they're cheap. You could throw your controller into a wall in frustration and get another on ebay for six bucks.

So time to upgrade. There's just no point fighting it anymore. You've looked at controllers, saw all the different specs, got intimidated and moved on. But now's the time to do it. Take the plunge[r]....

The DS 350 3D Controller. It's a finger-trigger too.

The thing with nicer controllers is that their origins are with racing when it was in its commercial track period, a.k.a. the golden years of slot cars. Most controllers are setup with particular resistances. This was originally done so you could run different cars on those huge commercial tracks and get way more speed than you could on your home track. The controllers are built to work with special circumstances. Sure, there are controllers that'll work with everything, and we're going to talk about that in a minute, but if we're talking about the next-level, ready-to-win controllers that are still good on the budget, then we have to talk about these.

DS is one company that makes slot car controllers. There are a host of them, ranging in resistance depending on what you need. I did a lot of research online before purchasing. I wanted to make sure that I was getting the proper resistance rating, or very near it, for what I was doing. After reading multiple suggestions of going with a 40ohm controller to race well with Carrera cars on Carrera track, I gave myself a little more room and got a 35ohm controller, so I'll have a little more control all the way. I'd still get the power, it just wouldn't be so much of a last-plunge punch like the Carrera controller. 

This controller runs up to medium speed about halfway depressed, then starts a more gradual upward curve. This allows me to maintain speed while being able to feather the throttle through the turns. There's is no black/white, on/off feel to this controller. You can actually feel and understand what's happening. Suddenly you become much better at high-end control as well, as you've got more room to move. 

I'm a drummer. Been so for many many years. For a drummer, the thumbs are like an on/off switch. While they do a lot, it is mostly of the hit/don't hit variety. The fingers, on the other hand [I'm full of them today], have so much more control over the power, accent, speed, etc of the stick. Sure, the thumb's doing stuff too. You need your thumb. But in this case its acting more like a fulcrum than a fine-tuner. 

Fingers are just better for doing the sort of stuff like slot car racing than thumbs. In fact, aside from being a contestant on Jeopardy, I can't for the life of me think of any other time or place in life where the thumb-plunge is used in any way, shape or form. Anywhere.

So, you now have your new controller and you've tried it out. It costs almost as much as a cheap car, but you notice the improvement right away. But you only bought one. What happens now? Do you buy a matched controller to what you just bought? Or do you maybe get something else with a slightly different resistance rating? Could control some of your cars better. Never know. 

Or, you could look at the next level: electronic controllers.

The SCP-1 again. An impressive piece of kit.

"I'm not insane. No way I spend three cars' worth of money on a controller that's way out of my league."

Yeah, I thought the same thing. But in case you don't remember or haven't read the old days of this blog, the SCP-1 was gifted to me by a kind colleague on a slot car forum. I still find them available online nowadays for around 80 bucks, which is pretty good. Would I pay that now if I didn't have one? Damn straight.

It's hard to justify spending crazy money on a controller. But here's the thing: you don't need two of these. Just the one for you. Get yourself a nice 30-buck-chuck like the DS controller and your friend will be able to race you no problem. 

But electronic slot car controllers are a different animal. Yes, you still have the same basic trigger-finger throttle, but there's so much more. And it's these things that set this unit apart. This allows total customization of controller to car, with the ability to adjust on the fly, and do a host of other things. 

Being able to dial in each race car adds a huge thrill to racing. So much you can do. Power trim sets how much power you want to have how fast. Min Speed sets what happens the second you apply pressure to the trigger. Brake is electronic, and will slow your car faster than the normal coast most controllers do. Curve/Max, in this case is maximum power. Great to set if you want to be able to control a car and race it right on the edge. Also great if you have noobs or kids over and need to keep the overall speed down. There's also a set-and-forget button so you can race against a drone car.

Having more functional control of the power curve and everything affecting it will definitely improve your racing. Certain functions will make a huge difference in a car's performance. Being able to control a car that might be touchy by lowering the Power Trim and adding a little braking makes it act like a different race car.

I went from lousy [Carrera] to fantastic [Slot.it] right away, and would have been totally happy with the DS [or any other brand] controller if I hadn't. Get a good controller. Anything but the stock one. So get one. Just do it. Do it for me.